Archive:Prairie Wolf Brings Fire to the Shu'halo
In the beginning, the Shu’halo had no fire. The only fire anywhere was on the top of a high, snow-covered mountain, where it was guarded by the Centaur. The Centaur were afraid that if the Shu’halo had any fire they might become very powerful as powerful as the Centaur. So the Centaur would not give any of the fire away to anyone. Because the Shu’halo had no fire, they were always shivering, and they had to eat their food raw. When Prairie Wolf came along he found them cold and miserable. "Prairie Wolf," they begged, "you must bring us fire from the mountain or we will one day die of all this cold." "I will see what I can do for you," promised Prairie Wolf. As soon as An’she rose the next morning, Prairie Wolf began the long and difficult climb to the top of the mountain where the Centaur kept the fire. When he got to the top he saw that there wrinkled, old Centaur, all brothers, guarded the fire all day and all night, each taking a turn. While one kept watch the other two ate and slept in a lodge nearby. When it was time to change the watch the one at the fire would go to the door of the lodge and call out "Brother, get up and guard the fire." At dawn, the Centaur who had been watching the fire all night was always stiff with the cold and he walked very slowly through the snow to the lodge door to call his brother. "This is the time to steal a brand of the fire," thought Prairie Wolf to himself. But he knew, too, that he would be chased. And he knew that even though the Centaur were old they were swift and strong runners. Prairie Wolf would have to devise a plan. Prairie Wolf thought and thought, but he could not come up with any plan. So he decided to ask his three sisters who were very wise; they would tell him what to do. At first, Prairie Wolf’s sisters were reluctant to help him. "If we tell you," they said, "you will only say that you knew it all along." Prairie Wolf remembered that his sisters were afraid of hail and so he called out to the Earthmother, "Earthmother! Send down hail from the sky!." This made his sisters very afraid. "Stop!" they called. "Don’t bring the hail down. We will tell you what you want to know." Prairie Wolf’s sisters then told him how to steal the fire and get it down the mountain to the people without getting caught. When they had finished talking, Prairie Wolf said, "Yes, that was my plan all along." Prairie Wolf then went to see his fellow animals. He called everyone together, as his sisters had directed, and told each animal about the plight of the Shu'halo. Once they all agreed to help Prairie Wolf told Raptor, Savanah Highmane, Zhevra, Prairie Dog, Squirrel and the others to take up certain places along the mountainside. When they were all in place, they stretched in a long line from the top of the mountain all the way back to the village. Prairie Wolf climbed back up the mountain and waited for sunrise. The old Centaur who was watching the fire had keen eyes and he saw him. But he thought it was just an animal skulking around looking for scraps. At dawn the Centaur left the fire and walked slowly over to the lodge door. "Brother, get up and guard the fire." Just at that moment Prairie Wolf sprang from the bushes. He seized a burning brand from the fire and ran away as fast as he could across the snow. The three Centaurs were right behind him in an instant. They were so close they were showering Prairie Wolf with the snow and iced they were churning up in their fury. Prairie Wolf was running as fast as he had ever run in his life. He leaped over cracks in the iced and rolled part way down the mountain like a snowball, but the Centaurs were right behind him. They were so close behind that their hot breath scorched his fur. When Prairie Wolf finally reached the tree line, Savanah Highmane jumped out from his hiding place, snatched up the fire brand and raced away just as Prairie Wolf fell flat on his face from exhaustion. Savanah Highmane ran all the way to the high trees where he gave the fire to Raptor. Raptor raced until he came to the heavy undergrowth where he gave the fire to Squirrel. Squirrel ran away through the trees, leaping from branch to branch. The Centaurs could not go through the trees so they planned to catch Squirrel at the edge of the woods. But Zhevra was waiting there to get the fire from Squirrel, and Zhevra, who was the fastest of all the animals, bounded away across the plains. One after another, each one of the animals carried the fire, but the Centaurs stayed right behind them. Finally, when there was only a glowing coal left, the fire was passed to Frog. Frog swallowed the hot coal and hopped away as fast as he could hop. The Centaurs were almost on top of him when he dove into a deep river and swam across to the other side. The youngest Centaur had already leaped across the water and was waiting for him. As soon as he landed, Frog saw what had happened and jumped between the Centaur’s legs and bounded away. An instant later the Centaurs were on him again and Frog was too tired to jump. So he spat the hot coal out on Wood and Wood swallowed it. The three Centaurs stood there not knowing what to do. None of them could figure a way to take the fire away from Wood. After a while they left and went slowly back to their lodge on the top of the mountain. Prairie Wolf then called the Shu’halo together and they all gathered around Wood. Prairie Wolf, who was very wise, knew how to get the fire out of Wood. He showed the Shu’halo how to rub two dry sticks together until sparks came. Then he showed them how to collect dry moss and make chips of wood to add to the sparks to make a little fire. Then he showed them how to add small twigs and pine needles to make a bigger fire. From then on, the Shu’halo knew how to get the fire out of Wood. They cooked their meat, their houses were warm, and they were never cold again. As for Prairie Wolf, even though he was wise his cunning caused him to try and take all the credit, he failing to thank his sisters or the other animals. Thus a large black spot of scorched fur across his back from when he was chased was left there by the Earthmother and can still seen on all Prairie Wolf today as a reminder to all of his wise but cunning nature. Category:Archived Stories